1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pipe joint, and more particularly to a steel pipe joint.
2. Description of Background Art
A conventional steel pipe joint is illustrated in FIG. 4. The steel pipe joint, generally denoted as a, comprises a tubular retainer c with a seal member b fitted therein for positioning the ends of pipes A, B which are inserted from opposite openings in the tubular retainer c and which abut against the seal member b. The steel pipe joint a also includes packing members d, e positioned, respectively, at the opposite ends of the retainer c and fitted over the pipes A, B. The packing members d, e contain steel balls d', e'. The steel pipe joint a has a tubular clamping ring f fitted over the retainer c and the pipe A while forcing the packing member d to be pressed at its inner surface against the end of the retainer c. Another tubular clamping ring g is fitted over the retainer c and the pipe B while forcing the packing member e to be pressed at its inner surface against the other end of the retainer c. The clamping rings f, g and the retainer c have positioning grooves i, h for interfitting the members relative to each other. C-shaped springs j which are resiliently biased radially outwardly are inserted in the positioning grooves h. When the clamping rings f, g are moved a distance toward each other until the positioning grooves i, h are radially aligned, the springs j are resiliently urged to project into the positioning grooves j and are located and engaged in both the positioning grooves i, h. The clamping rings f, g are now fixed with respect to the retainer c.
The pipes A, B can easily be joined to each other by the pipe joint simply by pushing the clamping rings f, g relative to each other with respect to the retainer c.
However, once the pipes A, B have been coupled to each other by the pipe joint, it will be difficult to disconnect the pipes A, B.
For joining the pipes A, B to each other, the clamping ring f may first be coupled to the retainer c. Thereafter, the other clamping ring g may be coupled to the retainer c. If the pipes A, B are out of axial alignment even slightly when coupling the clamping ring g to the retainer c, difficulty then arises in connecting the clamping ring g to the retainer c.